5 Things That Wowed Us About Week 1 of Worlds

The 2016 League of Legends World Championship is on cooldown before it resumes on October 6. That’s a break for the players and viewers alike, because the games we were treated to so far were just too sweet.  

We saw team fights balance on a knife’s edge, flashy outplays for days, and of course—all those upsets. And with 24 more matches before the bracket stage, there’s no rest in sight!

So if you’re still sitting slack-jawed at the spectacle that is Worlds, then you better get your head right quick. Start by recalling the most awesome moments from week 1 in this countdown.

The Jungle Sends Its Regards

Sure, your solo queue experience may revolve around everyone and their mother trying to lock in Mid or AD Carry. But at Worlds, the highlight reel role is the Jungler.

Many teams opted to ban out the usual top picks of Nidalee, Rek’Sai and Elise. That left the jungle open to the likes of Zac, Olaf, and even Skarner. Imagine that, Skarner at Worlds—and doing well at that!

More often than not, a squad’s success lived and died by the gank and objective pressure of their jungler. The likes of Jake “Xmithie” Puchero, Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen, and Hung “Karsa” Hau-Hsuan outplayed the opposition. When junglers like William “Meteos” Hartman fell from the clouds or when SKT’s jungler drew a… Blank? Their teams floundered.

And speaking of floundering…

Europe Falls Flat

Without the familiar faces on Fnatic and Origen representing Europe this year, many questioned of the region could produce the same results. After all, those two teams did reach the semifinals last year.

So far, the answer has been no. Unless you’re talking about 2014 when none of the 3 European teams made it out of the group stage. Because as it stands, Europe is 1-8 as a region.

Only H2k-Gaming managed to tick one off in the win column. And that’s against a wildcard region team. On top of that, H2k is EU’s 3rd seed! Needless to say, G2 and Splyce need to rally if there’s to be any hope.

While we’re on the subject of hope…

Cracks in the Korean Armor?

Smooth transitions! It used to be that the rest of the world could only hope to beat a Korean squad. SK Telecom, ROX Tigers, and Samsung Galaxy are all organizations that have claimed an LCK title before. SKT are the twice crowned World Champions. Yet all these teams have fallen rather decisively.

Prior to Worlds, many analysts toyed with the phrase “the gap is closing”. That gap may never close completely, but that won’t stop small triumphs here and there.

Counter Logic Gaming abused the weaker early game of the Tigers. Flash Wolves’ aggression out of the jungle stopped SK Telecom in its normally unstoppable tracks. These weren’t fluke wins that came off one turned fight. They were thought out plans executed from the beginning.

Koreans may be strong… but they’re not invincible. The rest of the world is slowly learning.

Hometown Heroes Triumphant

Maybe it’s the hometown crowd. Maybe it’s the other regions that weren’t prepared for picks such as Skarner or Aurelion Sol in the mid lane. Whatever the case may be, North America’s record is 6-3.

That can’t be understated. At this point in time, NA is tied with Korea on paper! No matter what happens in the tournament from here on out, the West will always have this moment.

Also, this happened.

Wildcards Run… Wild

When it comes to showstoppers, none can top the upsets the International Wildcard teams pulled off. INTZ beating China’s #1 seed was the biggest upset in the history of the game. And that was just day 1!

Albus Nox Luna is currently sitting with a positive record of 2-1, being tied with CLG and the ROX Tigers. A wildcard team standing on equal footing with two major regions is unheard of.

What’s really mind-blowing about their performance is their wins haven’t been gimmicky either. They too have shown their knowledge of macro play, calculated aggression, and finesse—even if that finesse involves Kirill “Likkrit” Malofeev wrecking face with support Brand.

Their form is so impressive that fans are dubbing these Russian upstarts Europe’s best hope. Some have gone as far as to call them the second coming of Moscow 5. It’s too early to tell if these claims are true, though. All we can do is enjoy the show these boys are putting on.

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